David Wright – Farewell!

It’s the start of the 2001 draft. The Mets have their eyes on a few players with David Wright being in the back of their minds.

They got Aaron Heilman, who had a massacred career, but, the Mets had a compensation pick.

Allan “Bud” Selig stepped up to the podium and said, “With the 38th pick of the 2001 Baseball Draft, the New York Mets select David Wright out of Hickory High School, the White Sox have the next pick.”

That was the start of one of the greatest dynasties in the history of the sport, which I will narrate to you.

On a hot afternoon in Queens, the Mets played the Expos, David Wright went 0-4 in his debut. The next day, July 22, he got his first two hits, one of them a double. Then, four games later, he took his first of many trips around the bases. Fast forward to the 2006 postseason, he goes 8-37 with four walks and a home run in the whole postseason which was all the way to the NLCS.

Then, maybe a little over a year later, his back started to conk out and he began his what seemed then to a be a never-ending injury stint.

David finally came back to hype up the Mets who had just got into the postseason. He went 10-54 with a homer and the team went all the way to World Series with the karma of their captain. Then after he played in two games in two years, and he finally comes out of the clasp of injury. He is cleared to go to St. Lucie to play in some games.

David finally returns to The Big Apple after more than a month in St. Lucie and Las Vegas. Then after about a week on the bench, he eagerly comes out of his dugout with a feeling that his gut might fail him, he swung at the first pitch he saw and hit a bullet to third.

On September 29, he finally makes a start at third, wait for it--batting third. Before the game, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio made 9/29, “David Wright Day.”

Jose Reyes and David Wright are making their 895^th start together. A lot of things are happening. So, Wright steps up to the plate, with all of Citi Field, and probably a quarter of the Tri-State Area standing and cheering. You could see tension in David’s eyes. I actually heard fireworks in the background near our apartment. He draws a walk, then, he gets doubled up on a Conforto grounder. Then, a second at-bat, he pops out to the rookie first baseman in foul territory.

In a memorable stroll around the infield, David with tears in his eyes, waved to the fans for their support. He said he was ready to say thank you a million times to his fans. Mets fans rightfully cheered him today and throughout his illustrious career. He was the face of the Mets and baseball. He was the team captain and the poster boy of baseball.

David Wright had an outstanding career, he is and always will be my favorite player. Farewell, Captain America.

See you in the post season.

2018 Season Comes to an End

With the end of the regular season here, Christian Yelich is surging to the top of the MVP poll, Javy Baez must be pissed as heck. Javy Baez is still as amazing as ever, but Yelich is just too overpowering. Jacob deGrom left Aaron Nola and Max Scherzer in the dust so far away that it’s like they’re four year olds who just began to pitch.

DeGrom is first in ERA by .20 points, second in Pitcher’s WAR by .2. Here’s an interesting fact of deGrom that my gym teacher told me, if the Mets scored at least 3 runs every game that Jake started, he would be 30-0, that he would be a Cy Young winner, no doubt.

Blake Snell has been on top of everything in his Rookie Year, leading his division in Wins, ERA and WAR for pitchers. Mookie Betts is running away with everything, including the MVP honors. He leads his leads his league in runs, average, WAR, slugging percentage and extra base hits.

Khris Davis has been “kh-illing” the ball lately with 47 homers, and he just loves hitting the ball.

Chris Davis on the other hand has been a catastrophe. He can’t hit anything, but still he is one of the highest paid player in baseball.

David Wright will officially retire tonight. He is and always will be my favorite player. He pinch hit yesterday. He will be in the lineup playing 3B tonight as that is his final game in the bigs.

Here are my new and improved predictions:

NL East: Atlanta Braves

NL Central: Chicago Cubs

NL West: Colorado Rockies

NL Wild Card Game: Los Angeles Dodgers vs Milwaukee Brewers: Milwaukee Brewers

AL East: Boston Red Sox

AL Central: Cleveland Indians

AL West: Houston Astros

AL Wild Card Game: New York Yankees vs Oakland Athletics: New York Yankees

NLDS:  Atlanta Braves vs Colorado Rockies: Atlanta Braves

NLDS:  Chicago Cubs vs Milwaukee Brewers: Chicago Cubs

ALDS: Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees: Boston Red Sox

ALDS: Cleveland Indians vs Houston Astros: Cleveland Indians

NLCS: Atlanta Braves vs Chicago Cubs: Chicago Cubs

ALCS: Boston Red Sox vs Cleveland Indians: Boston Red Sox

World Series: Boston Red Sox vs Chicago Cubs: Boston Red Sox

Leaders:

AVG:

AL: Mookie Betts, Boston Red Sox

NL: Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers

RBI:

AL: J.D. Martinez, Boston Red Sox

NL:  Javier Baez, Chicago Cubs

Runs:

AL: Francisco Lindor, Cleveland Indians

NL: Charlie Blackmon, Colorado Rockies

HRs:

AL: Khris “Khrush” Davis, Oakland Athletics

NL: Trevor Story, Colorado Rockies

ERA:

AL: Blake Snell, Tampa Bay Rays

NL: Jacob DeGrom, New York Mets

Wins:

AL: Blake Snell, Tampa Bay Rays

NL: Max Scherzer, Washington Nationals

Strikeouts:

AL: Justin Verlander, Houston Astros

NL: Max Scherzer, Washington Nationals

Awards:

Rookie of the Year:

AL: Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels

NL: Ronald Acuna Jr., Atlanta Braves

Cy Young:

AL: Blake Snell, Tampa Bay Rays

NL: Jacob deGrom, New York Mets

Silver Slugger and Gold Glove winners stay the same

MVP:

AL: Mookie Betts, Boston Red Sox

NL: Javier Baez, Chicago Cubs

I will offer my thoughts about David Wright after tonight’s game.

Thanks for reading.

With 21 days left until the postseason or the second season as some say, the official 2018 baseball season is coming to an end.

JA Happ has always been a guy that you could lay your team on and depend on the veteran to start a game and finish strong and give the game to your bullpen. He was a great pitcher but he was on a team that had a mediocre offense with the Blue Jays but they somehow always picked him up with a very strong first season riding a 20-4 record. Then, the Jays faltered and Happ had a 10-11 record in 25 games. He picked it up himself with a 15-6 record so far this year, but with the Yanks, with a nuclear powered offense, he’s 5-0, clearly he could carry his own weight.

Eric Hosmer is a very good first baseman with power, some speed (at least more than most first basemen) and he is very good at flashing the leather around making stops that no one could make. He is very prone to putting the ball on the ground with 57% of the balls he put into play were grounders, thus producing 105 singles this year. His OPS is staggeringly low at .709 with his usual being .781. His Total Bases number is really big for only three weeks off the end of the season and he only played 138 games. Though he is a four-time Gold Glover he has four errors at first this year. If he hadn’t had a below mediocre season he would’ve had a spot at least 15 spots before this.

Robbie Ray is always such a dark horse; no one ever realizes his potential, he just flies under the radar. Robbie Ray set down 218 hitters in 162 innings. Hitters made contact 68% of the time only past Cy Young winners who have gotten less contact rates. Don’t forget that he had a 15-5 record last year and that was his emerging year. Now that the Diamondbacks are most likely going to the playoffs, Robbie is going to be a big piece in their winning games against tough opponents. He has a great defense behind him, so any ground ball or tough fly is 65% of the time caught. He has developed a wicked curveball that could easily fool even the toughest hitters. He should be a couple of spots higher because he’s not really Cy Young caliber goods.

Odubel “Torito” Herrera is a five-tool player no matter what kind of stats you give me. He has a heck of a lot of power, and he’s right up there behind Charlie Blackmon as one of the best centerfielders in the game. He’s one of the fastest in the NL East with Amed Rosario and Trea Turner. The only weak spot that he has is average hitting as he’s batting .264 but that’s still better than most centerfielders. But, he’s kind of lazy, like he doesn’t run out grounders and he watches strikes go by and swings at balls and he’s kind of annoying and irritating to his teammates and to opponents. He’s going to have a high WAR this year because earlier in the year he was the only good player there, but then came all sorts of sluggers from all sorts of teams. His arm is an item that I rather not talk about, it’s kind of a painful subject. He should be placed a lot higher up because he’s very good.

Todd Frazier has such a good resume that no one really sees how unreliable he is, yeah, he could hit dingers, and his glove is okay, but outside of that, he’s bad. He can’t hit for average, he can’t run. His arm is horrible when he trying to make a tough throw. His hits have always been low. His SLG is down as is his OBP. He won’t make it to any other team because no team wants him. But power is a big point in today’s game and he’s already slugged 17 dingers, even if he was out for about a little more for a month. He hasn’t been getting his doubles but I think he’s about to get on a hot streak. His WAR is 2.3 so obviously the Mets put him as a starter but nothing more. He should, I think, stay where he is.

The rookie pitcher that the Royals acquired in a trade is Mike Moustakas. So, he made his major league debut with no apparent high hopes. He then took a perfecto into the eighth, he walked a guy and then Robbie Grossman singled. Best wishes to him.

J.D. Martinez is one of the best all round-players in the game though he can’t run, can’t field and has a horrible arm. But, his hitting is amazing, in baseball, he has the second highest average, he’s second in dingers and he drives in runners like there’s no tomorrow. There was a rally squirrel, yes, a rally squirrel in the Cardinals-Tigers game, the squirrel came onto the field and the Cardinals scored some runs. A similar thing happened last year when a cat came onto the field and Yadier Molina then hit a grand slam.

We all know that Ender Inciarte is not a home run hitter, he is a Gold Glover that steals a heck of a lot of bases. So, in a recent game he hit a three-run homer that won the game in the end. Maybe this is the beginning of a new Ender.

Congratulations to Jose Ramirez on reaching the 30-30 club. He stole his 30^th bag against the Toronto Blue Jays but sadly they lost. Jose is a sparkplug for the Indians and so solid everywhere, with their pitching and their amazing hitting, that’s the kind of stuff you need to get into the postseason. Ronald Acuna Jr. has turned heads once again, now being only the sixth player in baseball history to have 25+ homers before turning 21.

The Mets are finally watchable again. They’ve been on winning streaks snapped by only one loss at a time. Jay Bruce is back, Noah Syndergaard pitched his first complete game against the Giants, Jacob DeGrom has made his Cy Young case even stronger. Probably the best news is David Wright he has joined the team and is now playing in simulated games and will hope to join the team as a player later this week. And to top it off, this bat flip is amazing, Park Suk-Min is in the Korean league and he did a no-look behind the back bat flip, but, it wasn’t a home run, it was a RBI single.

Around the MLB Ballparks

Wilson Contreras is still a youngster, he doesn’t play a full 162 games a year as Victor Caratini has squeezed in for 48 games this year but, I’m not saying Vic is bad, but ya know, Contreras: An arm that the government classified as a weapon, 25+ homer power. Vic: Has an arm, but doesn’t have a homer yet. He has a tool that most catchers don’t have: speed, he could steal five or six a year and hit one or two triples. (At least the ones who stand at 6’1” 210 lb. and has a lot of muscle, he’s fast) He was an All-Star this year, didn’t do much at the game but it was his first All-Star selection. He has a prosperous future ahead of him and the Cubs have so many good sluggers in Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo, Contreras is a very nice surprise and could lead them to the World Series, but, that prediction is a longshot, but they have a shot.

Matt Carpenter is a beast all of a sudden, he could launch missiles for homers and he’s a wait, leadoff man? Yeah, he’s a leadoff man, and he’s leading the NL in homers with 33. He has the occasional burst of speed but the Cards need a good dependable player at every position and that’s where Carpenter comes in. He is an old-school guy who loves slapping the ball the other way for doubles and he adores the long ball. I think he should have gotten the All-Star selection that was a HUGE snub, the second worst snub was Brandon Nimmo. Right now, he is leading the NL in SLG%, OPS, OPS+ and Total Bases. He is on pace for about a career-high, 5.2 WAR and he’s going for a career season. I think he might be in the mix for MVP. He should be ranked higher if the people who did this had a mid season one too.

Lance Lynn is a lost player and he somehow got onto the Twins. He started with the Twins as a guy who could get the job done, even becoming an All-Star in 2012. But, he always allowed a lot of hits but could get some easy outs, bu-u-ut, he would get pulled from games kind of early. Never being the guy to give the bullpen an off day. He was a back of the rotation guy though he was drafted in the first round. He was majorly setback due to Tommy John surgery in 2016 that took away the only heat that he had. He’s made about 30 starts each of his years in the bigs. He is one of those pitchers like Steven Matz that he keeps allowing heaps of runs and no one really talked about him, until he took the mound, you forgot that he’s even there. He never finished with an ERA more than 3.97, but in all of this, the Mets could use him and they could gladly fire Vargas. The Yanks picked him up though and gave him second life, but he is still good enough to get placed in the Top 100.

David Price has been the pitcher the Red Sox traded for three years ago. He has been on fire over his last seven start with a 1.50 ERA with 48 Ks and only allowed eight runs. He always had that wicked slider but his legendary pitch is the fastball to get easy outs such as groundouts or to throw strike three to an unsuspecting batter. Now that Sale is on the DL, he has gotta lead this rotation. His walks is at a normal number but his Ks are up. He likes to pitch up and in to lefties and up and away to rights at a slower speed. He led the Sox to their 90th win. His career has shown the way to the Hall of Fame, but the last year or so really slowed his performance down, now as he’s picking it up, he might have a chance to make a go for a late-in-the-career Cy Young and maybe even into the Hall of Fame.  

J.T. Realmuto is a piece that everyone wanted, he’s statistically the fastest catcher in the game and has added a lot of pop to his resume and that helps because the Marlins officially have no power whatsoever, they traded Justin Bour away to the Phillies and that’s all. He’s gotten 16 homers and 62 RBIs. He had 17 homers all last year and he’s already gotten 16. He was an All-Star this year and he is on pace for a career year in walks, homers, RBIs, runs and double. J.T. already has career highs in SLG, OBP and OPS. He is, I would say one of the best framers in baseball. He is also on pace to a career low in double plays. His WAR should finish around 5.2, as he is leading the Marlins. He should have a higher spot, but, strangely enough, I don’t blame the writers who wrote this mess, because, looking at his number the past few years, he deserves that spot.

The Phillies are aquiring like nuts, I mean, like NUTS!!!!!!! They’ve got Wilson Ramos, Asdrubal Cabrera, Jose Bautista and Justin Bour, that’s 63 round-trippers just this season. Add that to Odubel Herrera, Maikel Franco, Carlos Santana and Rhys Hoskins and you get 151 homers, and you’ve got yourself 8 men who could rip the seaming off the balls, plus the pitcher, and you have a lineup. Aaron Judge is now recovering slowly from his injury after he got hit in the hand but has still not begun swinging a bat but is practicing base running drills. It’s official, the MLB has hit the most walk-offs in a single year with 81, after Tyler White’s walk-off homer, we broke the record set in 2004. Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor were the only the second duo on the left side of the infield to have 20 homers and 20 bags in his pocket since Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. Speaking of Derek Jeter, I was looking through his Baseball Reference page, I saw that he was second in MVP voting. I thought, “Who could have won when Jeter had such a phenomenal year? It was some guy named Justin Morneau, he had a nice year, slugging 34 dingers, driving in 130 steaks, with a .321 average. Captain America will join the Mets in San Francisco but will still continue rehab for few days. Maybe the Mets could go for a late miracle run to the Wild Card and Wright will be a godsend. There was a kid at the Dodgers-Rangers game who caught (more like dived for) Cody Bellinger’s and Manny Machado’s dingers, wow, what a day, that kid had his eyes on the prize(s). Amed Rosario has been a leadoff hitter as good a Whit Meffifield, and Whit may not be a realllllly good player, but he’s up there on the best leadoff men in the game. His breakout has been the best surprise of the Mets’ 2018 season (besides the 11-1 start) He is already the best pure hitter of the Mets in my book, the fastest runner by 0.9 ft/sec with second being Brandon Nimmo. Justus Sheffield will be in the Arizona Fall League joined by Andres Gimenez and Peter Alonso. If you want to know what prospects from you’re team are in, visit https://www.mlb.com/news/2018-arizona-fall-league-rosters-revealed/c-292592546 and if you want full coverage of the AFL, visit, http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/afl/index.jsp. Player’s Weekend was amazing from Wild Horse, to the first emoji nickname, to Outlaw, to Jer-ry, jer-ry, jer-ry, to ShoTime. Todd Frazier went with the Godfather cleats with the Sopranos on them too. My personal favorite was Joey Gallo as Pico de Gallo. Congratulations to Hawaii for bringing down South Korea in the Little League World Series. And too top it off, the Arizona Diamondbacks are the best defensive team, I think, ever. Every player is in the top 5 in his position. The Rockies are also really good defensively but the Diamondbacks have like chips in their hand and in their gloves too that lead the hand to the ball, crazy good.  

The Rockies have a solid infield with DJ Lemahieu, Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story. Their outfield missiles in Carlos Gonzalez’ arm and Gerardo Parra and Charlie Blackman could catch anything. They’re both in the NL West, and I can’t wait to see Arizona’s defense in the playoffs.

My MLB Predictions

NL East Winner: Atlanta Braves

NL Central Winner: Chicago Cubs

NL West Winner: Los Angeles Angels

AL East Winner: Boston Red Sox

AL Central Winner: Cleveland Indians

AL West Winner: Houston Astros

NL Wild Card Winner: Milwaukee Brewers vs St. Louis Cardinals Winner: Milwaukee Brewers

AL Wild Card Winner: Oakland Athletics vs New York Yankees Winner: New York Yankees

NLDS: Chicago Cubs vs Milwaukee Brewers Winner: Chicago Cubs

NLDS: Atlanta Braves vs Arizona Diamondbacks Winner: Atlanta Braves

ALDS: Boston Red Sox vs Cleveland Indians Winner: Boston Red Sox

ALDS: New York Yankees vs Houston Astros Winner: New York Yankees

NLCS: Chicago Cubs vs Atlanta Braves Winner: Chicago Cubs

ALCS: Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees: Boston Red Sox

World Series: Boston Red Sox vs. Chicago Cubs: Boston Red Sox

Awards:

Batting Average:

NL: Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers

AL: Mookie Betts, Boston Red Sox

Hits:

NL: Freddie Freeman, Atlanta Braves

AL: Francisco Lindor, Cleveland Indians

HRs:

NL: Matt Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals

AL: J.D. Martinez, Boston Red Sox

Runs:

NL: Charlie Blackmon, Colorado Rockies

AL: Mookie Betts, Boston Red Sox

RBIs:

NL: Javier Baez, Chicago Cubs

AL: J.D. Martinez, Boston Red Sox

Walks:

NL: Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds

AL: Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels

 Stolen Bases:

NL: Trea Turner, Washington Nationals

AL: Dee Gordon, Seattle Mariners

Pitching:

Wins:

NL: Max Scherzer, Washington Nationals

AL: Luis Severino, New York Yankees

ERA:

NL: Jacob DeGrom, New York Mets

AL: Chris Sale, Boston Red Sox

Innings Pitched:

NL: Jacob DeGrom, New York Mets

AL: Corey Kluber, Cleveland Indians

Strikeouts:

NL: Max Scherzer, Washington Nationals

AL: Gerrit Cole, Houston Astros

Homeruns:

NL: Chase Anderson, Milwaukee Brewers

AL: Dylan Bundy, Baltimore Orioles

Walks:

NL: Tyler Chatwood, Chicago Cubs

AL: Lucas Giolito, Chicago White Sox

Awards:

Gold Glove Award Winners:

NL:

P: Zack Greinke, Arizona Diamondbacks

1B: Paul Goldscmidt, Arizona Diamondbacks

2B: DJ Lemahieu, Colorado Rockies

3B: Nolan Arenado, Colorado Rockies

SS: Nick Ahmed, Arizona Diamondbacks

LF: Corey Dickerson, Pittsburgh Pirates

CF: Charlie Blackmon, Colorado Rockies

RF: Gregory Polanco, Pittsburgh Pirates

C: Yadier Molina, St. Louis Cardinals

AL:

P: Trevor Bauer, Cleveland Indians

1B: Justin Smoak, Toronto Blue Jays

2B: Jed Lowrie, Oakland Athletics

3B: Jose Ramirez, Cleveland Indians

SS: Francisco Lindor, Cleveland Indians

LF: Michael Brantley, Cleveland Indians

CF: Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels

RF: Mookie Betts, Boston Red Sox

C: Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals

Silver Slugger Award

NL:

P: Michael Lorenzen, Cincinatti Reds

1B: Jesus Aguilar, Milwaukee Brewers

2B: Javier Baez, Chicago Cubs

3B: Nolan Arenado, Colorado Rockies

SS: Trevor Story, Colorado Rockies

LF: Rhys Hoskins, Philadelphia Phillies

CF: Charlie Blackmon, Colorado Rockies

RF: Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals

C: Yasmani Grandal, Los Angeles Dodgers

AL:

1B: Jose Abreu, Chicago White Sox

2B: Jose Altuve, Houston Astros

3B: Jose Ramirez, Cleveland Indians

SS: Francisco Lindor, Cleveland Indians
LF: Giancarlo Stanton, New York Yankees

CF: Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels

RF: Mookie Betts, Boston Red Sox

C: Evan Gattis, Houston Astros

Guys, I spent like 30 mins thinking on this sooooooooooooooooo,

DH: Khris Davis, Oakland Athletics

Rookie of The Year:

NL: Juan Soto, Washington Nationals

AL: Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels (Sorry about Andujar or Torres, Yankees Fans, Nothing personal, Just Business)

Cy Young:

NL: Jacob DeGrom, New York Mets

AL: Justin Verlander, Houston Astros

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Moment you’ve all been waiting for, the MVP’s!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MVP:

NL: Javier Baez, Chicago Cubs

AL: Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels

What do you say? Am I right or am I wrong?

Dog Days of August – Season Predictions

So, the AL wins the All-Star game again lead by Mike Trout and Aaron Judge, this year the Yankees and a healthy amount of players in D.C., buuuttt, the Mets, well, they only have Cy-Young Frontrunner Jacob DeGrom who allowed a homer. Jean Segura, the most unlikely character to hit a game-winning three-run homer, but the real hero in this story is Alex Bregman, he put the tying blow in the ninth to keep the AL alive as the NL was up.

I didn’t like the hasty call that Max Scherzer would start the game for the NL because obviously, Max was at his home ballpark, blah, blah, blah, if you look closer, Scherzer is only better in one category, SOs. He is a strikeout machine, but DeGrom just doesn’t allow a run. Would you rather have no runs or strikeouts? Put your answers in the comment box. Bryce Harper is the slugger Bryce is. He won the Home Run Derby because there were no real contenders, yeah, OK, Jesus Aguilar, he had more homers than Bryce entering the All-Star break.

The unlikely contender in the finals is Kyle Schwarber. He partnered with NASA and sent one to the one a few times, but Bryce in that Hulk frame of his hit his 21 homers to beat Kyle. Then comes the Trade Deadline, Manny Machado gets traded to the Dodgers, ok, Dodgers just got a biiiggg boost. Then Jeurys Familia got traded and the Mets got a trash minor leaguer, a third baseman, and Bobby Wahl, who proved very successful in his Mets debut, as the Mets are really hoping for some help in the ‘pen.

Then little trades happened like Brad Hand and Lance Lynn but another big one was Mike Moustakas and Justin Schoop went to make some beer in Milwaukee with the Brew Crew.

Will they prove to be a good trade, I don’t know, but I do know that after the acquisitions, the Brewers playoff odds went up. Then, the Dodgers went out and got Brian Dozier, a player that I was praying the Mets would get after they traded Asdrubal Cabrera to the Phillies, the only trade that proved half-decently successful, acquiring rookie star Franklyn Kilome.

So, with an infield of Manny Machado, Brian Dozier, Max Muncy, Cody Bellinger and Justin Turner, if I’m the opposing pitcher, I would intentionally walk every single one of them. If you calculate the HR totals from last year of each one of them, (The stats for Max Muncy are the stats for this year) the total is 144, you will not believe it. That is more homers than 24 players had on the Giants last year. The Astros have the biggest chance to win the World Series, but right behind them is the lovable Dodgers, then the team that went to the Series, two years ago, then, the Red Sox, then the Cubs.

BREAKING NEWS: I have just received word that Mickey Callaway will be Mets manager for the 2019 season. Welp, there goes another season down the drain.

Matt Carpenter doesn’t wear batting gloves but he is slugging those balls into the seats, I’ve always wondered why players don’t wear batting gloves, I thought it hurts if the ball connects in the wrong spot and then you feel like your thumb is broken. Maybe I should shed the batting gloves in my upcoming season? Franmil Reyes launches a homer 474 ft. in Wrigley Field, the longest there since Kris Bryant in 2015, we all know he was a consistent slugger, he just refreshed our memories.

So now for my mid-to 5/7 season predictions. The Red Sox are back on top of the Power Rankings and the Yankees fall down to seven, yeesh, harsh, very, harsh. The Cubs are in third as they are very hot. The Indians are back intact as Jose Ramirez is so hot, I think the only thing hotter in the world is the sun. The Phillies are next and are really making a comeback year and they’re in fifth in power rankings, Aaron Nola leads the team with a 2.37 ERA and every fifth day, the Phillies are bound to win. All three NL Cy Young candidates are in the East, or at least I think so, Jacob DeGrom, Mets, Max Scherzer, Nationals and Aaron Nola, Phillies, with DeGrom being the frontrunner in my mind.

NL East Winner: Philadelphia Phillies

NL Central Winner: Chicago Cubs

NL West Winner: Los Angeles Dodgers

AL East Winner: Boston Red Sox

AL Central Winner: Cleveland Indians

AL West Winner: Houston Astros

NL Wild Card: Atlanta Braves

AL Wild Card: New York Yankees

NLDS: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Atlanta Braves, Winner: Los Angeles Dodgers

NLDS: Philadelphia Phillies vs. Chicago Cubs, Winner Chicago Cubs

ALDS: Boston Red Sox vs. Cleveland Indians, Winner: Boston Red Sox
ALDS: Houston Astros vs. New York Yankees, Winner: New York Yankees

NLCS: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Chicago Cubs, Winner: Los Angeles Dodgers

ALCS: Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees, Winner: Boston Red Sox

2018 World Series: Boston Red Sox vs. Los Angeles Dodgers, Winner: Boston Red Sox

Player Awards:

AL MVP: Mike Trout, OF, Los Angeles Angels

NL MVP: Freddie Freeman, 1B, Atlanta Braves

AL Cy Young: Chris Sale, LHP, Boston Red Sox

NL Cy Young: Jacob DeGrom, RHP, New York Mets

AL Rookie of the Year: Shohei Ohtani, RHP/DH, Los Angeles Angels

NL Rookie of the Year: Juan Soto, OF, Washington Nationals

AL Manager of the Year: Aaron Boone, New York Yankees

NL Manager of the Year: Joe Maddon, Chicago Cubs

AL Batting Title: Mookie Betts, OF, Boston Red Sox

NL Batting Title: Nick Markakis, OF, Atlanta Braves

AL Home Run Leader: Jose Martinez, DH, Boston Red Sox

NL Home Run Leader: Nolan Arenado, 3B, Colorado Rockies

AL Hits Leader: Jose Altuve, 2B, Houston Astros

NL Hits Leader: Freddie Freeman, 1B, Atlanta Braves

AL WAR Leader: Mike Trout, OF, Los Angeles Angels

NL WAR Leader: Javier Baez, 2B, Chicago Cubs

AL Stolen Base Leader: Dee Gordon, 2B/OF, Seattle Mariners

NL Stolen Base Leader: Trea Turner, SS, Washington Nationals

Grab a hot dog on your way out.

Dog Days of August – Part One

Cole Hamels was a Cy Young candidate with the Phillies, a strikeout machine, he was one of the best, that’s why the Phillies won the World Series, now, when the Phillies traded Cole Hamels to the Rangers and he kind of went down. He wasn’t keeping hits to himself but he was letting the opponent hit the ball for base hits. But, when he was with the Phillies in his last three seasons and a half, he struck out 637 and with the Rangers, he struck out only 497 in his first three and a half seasons. But, there’s a catch, there’s always a catch, he allowed 69 homers in his last three and a half seasons, but, in his first three and a half seasons, he allowed 67 homers in his first three and a half seasons, so, I don’t know if he got better or worse. But I must say, Cole Hamels isn’t good at home, though he is a beast on the road, the newly acquired Cub will put a lot of distance between him and the Brewers in the NL Central Hunt.

Zack Cozart was a player that was not the greatest in Cincinnati, but he was a player you could rely on. His speed was not shown in his stolen bases but rather in his speed beating out infield hits or legging out a triple instead of a double. The 2017 All-Star was a great fielding stud, his fielding percentage (FLD%) is .978 in his first five complete seasons, which is very good for shortstops, which is even better than 3-time Gold Glove Winner, Brandon Crawford, who tops in at .977 in his three Gold Glove seasons and the two before it. Then he got traded for the Angels, a chance the initial plan for the season before any injuries or trades happened, was Zack Cozart at third, Andrelton Simmons at short, Ian Kinsler at second and Albert Pujols patrolling first. Luis Valbuena and Jefry Marte to switch around the infield. They could be playoff contenders. But then injuries struck, Zack Cozart went down for shoulder surgery; they had to call up David Fletcher. Then a few days ago they made one of the worst moves in all of franchise history, they traded away Ian Kinsler to the Red Sox, who the heck are they gonna play at second? They could play Luis Valbuena, but that’s a long shot, he’s a third baseman. There’s always Kaleb Cowart, a shortstop made second basemen, who played for the Angels last night, he was okay, hopefully, he could prove to be better and a supporting column of the lineup.

Jean Segura is one of the most underrated players in the business. His speed is mind-blowing, but, again, he has stolen bases, but he has speed in other things like hustle doubles or triples or beating out infield singles, he also has stolen at least 20 bases each of the past 5 seasons. He could hit for average and he has an average over .300 for the second season in a row. His walks have never been up because like me, I like to swing and I’m eager to hit. I think he would have been the runner-up for the AL batting title if not for a trip to the shelf the last few seasons. The 2018 All-Star put the decisive blow in the All-Star Game to power the AL to another win. He is definitely not known for his power is gracefully showing it over the past few years. He’s on pace for about 14 or 15 homers this year, but he is definitely a guy who could be in a starting role at shortstop and he is versatile at different positions around the diamond. He could lead a club to the postseason with help from players that could hit homers and they have Ryon Healy.

Johnny Cueto was a definite Cy Young candidate, he even had the honor to start the 2016 All-Star Game. He had a sizzling fastball, they were a great duo with Aroldis Chapman and he has one of the best changeups in the game along with his curve. He was the star of Cincinnati, I mean he was worshipped and then the Royals rented him for the 2015 World Series, and then he won a ring there. Then he was even more worshipped, he had a great year for the Giants near the bay. Theeeennn..........to put it lightly— it crashed and burned, injuries killed his pitching, he allowed more hits than SOs. He allowed 9.8 hits per 9IP. Right now, he’s on the DL, recovering from Tommy John Surgery, but we’re sure to see him and his shimmy soon. 

Kevin “Superman” Pillar is one of the best players defensively I have seen in my 11 years. He is a leadoff machine, you could trust him to get a hit and then steal second to easily start the game. Pillar has made the second or first best catch of the year to rob Nick Castellanos of a homer. He is really fast and granted that Curtis Granderson and Teoscar Hernandez aren’t that fast, Pillar is an asset in the outfield. He has a burst of power when you need him, buuut, the Blue Jays are loaded with power. He is a middle-in hitter and butchers pitches low and in. You should pitch him up and in and down and in, pitch him middle-in too. Pillar doesn’t have the greatest arm but that certainly shouldn’t put him at 90th, Pillar is a pillar of the Blue Jays. ­­­­­­

In my next installment, I’ll go out on a limb with predictions.

Here’s my observations about what’s happening around the MLB

So there’s this talk about how shifts are bad in baseball, but no, they’re not, it’s strategy, it’s like if you took the trick plays right out of Bill Belichek’s playbook. It’s like you can’t blitz in football on third down. The shift is a way to defend hits, if that didn’t happen, hits would be hits, a lot of hits turn into runs and the team that didn’t have the shift put on would lose.

The coaches complain about it, well tell your hitting coaches to work with the pull hitters to beat the shift, and if they don’t, well too bad. If the coaches are lazy, then I’ll give a few tips: One way to do it is to step to the ball, which will make the barrel connect with the ball later sending the ball into right/left field. Another way is to bunt against the shift, a definite base hit if you place it right, maybe even a double – if you run hard enough.

Another new controversy in MLB is the DH in the NL, the DH in the NL is the best idea to come into the mind of MLB in a long time. I searched up where the DH came from, so, it turns out that in 1969, the AAA used a DH for the first time, then a few years later, MLB decided to check it out by doing a vote, the AL against the NL, the AL decided, yes, the NL voted against it, so thus, the AL has the DH and the poor NL doesn’t. I want the DH to come to the NL to balance it out, the DH to be abolished once and for all, (that I would like the least most) or the DH to switch between the two leagues every season.

Enough of that, in Mets news, they’re getting worse and worse as on July 6 they faced the Rays in hope of salvaging a win to keep their spot of fourth place. The Mets have a very hard call about one of the pinch-runners, Hunter Wood, slid in as Wilmer Flores throw a ball practically over Devin Mesoraco’s head, and he had to scramble down to put the tag on Wood as he charged the plate like a champion, a really good slide. Then Jeurys Familia strikes out Willy Adames. Now, Bottom 9, Chaz Roe pitching, Todd Frazier gets walked, Mesoraco bluffed a bunt and then gets a single, so, then Dominic Smith grounds out, so now second and third. Brandon Nimmo gets intentionally walked, so now I’m thinking this is his first walk-off homer in his career, he’s gunna hit it. So, first pitch right there, José Bautista sends one over the left field fence and he knew it as soon as it hit his bat.

The Mets will probably be buying a heck of a lot of hitters as we’ll get closer toward the deadline with no trades made yet from anyone. Sandy Alderson is in the hospital, so now maybe the new general managers will be a tinsy-tiny bit smarter than Alderson. The Mets will be getting help in the bullpen as Jenrry Mejia will march right back in to the bullpen as spending about four years away from baseball as he got caught three times using drugs and could return to a Mets affiliate after the All-Star break and can’t join the Mets until Spring Training of 2019. The All-Star ballots are CLOSED!! The only All-Star the Mets will have is probably Jacob DeGrom, maybe Brandon Nimmo will be one after his crazy breakout 2018 first-half. Even though I don’t like the Nationals, I got to give it to them, they had one hell of a comeback. Down 9-0 going into the third, and then BBBBBBBBBLLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMOOOOOOOOO …

They exploded as they tied it up and take a one-run lead in the bottom of the sixth. They went crazy in the next inning with five runs and they earned themselves a 14-9 lead, then Kelvin Herrera faltered a little, not a lot, by giving up a 3-run homer to Brian Anderson.

I should talk about Brian Anderson. He got called up in 2017; one of those prospects that not much is expected from him, driving in eight. Then, in 2018, gets invited back, telling himself I’m going to be good. He produced, the speed helping him get through 89 games, the most in all of baseball. He has some pop too, with six homers for a rookie. He has a very prosperous future. Shin Soo-Choo has been a threat, an on-base streak of 45 games. Getting a single here, a double there, another double, a homer and sometimes a triple. I could tell you something, do not, under any circumstance do you hit a baseball to Kevin Pillar he could manage left, right and center field all at the same time and still make all the catches look easy. Search up Kevin Pillar latest catch and it will Blow. Your. Mind. So, after Carlos Gomez smashed a water cooler with his bat after striking out and then made a very heartfelt apology too it, what a nice man. Bartolo Colon has been a comedy show for baseball, well now he passed a very honorable milestone – what milestone? Well, now he gave up a homer to 300 different hitters. Mookie Betts also passed a milestone, this one positive, his 100^th home run of his short career. Right now the Yankees have hit a slump, they’re two games back of first place and they’re playing Toronto which has been really good lately, maybe the Yankees will hit a slump and lose the series to their division rivals.

Also Jake Cave of the Minnesota Twins made a terrific catch to rob a homer away from Jonathan Schoop, it seems all centerfielders are making terrific catches. At Kauffman Stadium there was a hot dog race and the mustard one tripped and now he’s going on the 10-day DL. I don’t know if Chris Sale is a human but he has 176 SOs and his SO/9 IP is 13.0 that is leading the AL and MLB. He’s amazing, I don’t think the Red Sox are going to put him on the chopping block as we come closer to the Trade Deadline.

Another ace might get dealt, Jacob DeGrom, the Mets are getting chirping from every team in baseball about and the Yankees and Brewers are the loudest, but, the price for the DeGrom is going to be monumentally high, the Mets are most likely going to keep DeGrom and Noah Syndergaard but will probably deal Wheeler or Cabrera. I dislike that they’re going to deal Cabrera because he has been the cornerstone of the Mets offence.

The Yankees are really closely looking into J.A. Happ because the Yanks need some support at the back of their rotation, also Cole Hamels, another dark horse starter that could prove himself worthy of going the distance, and if Aaron Boone wants this, he could maybe put Hamels in the bullpen. Madison Bumgarner could be a great piece in the three spot of the Yankees’ rotation. A good piece would be Michael Fulmer, the young righty has given up more hits then SOs but I really don’t think that the Tigers would trade him.

I think the Nationals should trade Bryce Harper because right now they’re in a huge slump, I think if they should get some young talent or some aging sluggers would help them, their bullpen is probably second in the NL right behind the Brewers, but the rotation need a little reinforcements. Manny Machado is going to get traded in the next 20 days, right now the teams begging for are mostly on the west coast or the Cubs or the Indians, right now, if the D-Backs receive the 26 year-old, then, the D-Backs are punching a ticket to October.

The Astros get a versatile piece in their already pretty much unstoppable lineup, Kyle Tucker; their No. 1 prospect got called up and laced a single for his first major league hit in the seventh inning. The NL Central is being run away with by the Indians. To tell you the truth, the A’s are big contenders in the AL, only 10 games back of the not consistent (but very good) Astros. They’re 7.5 games back of the Wild Card and Boston is in the lead, but the Red Sox don’t care about the Wild Card, they care about the division, so the A’s don’t have much to worry about, just creating runs. Aaron Judge is a beast if he gets on a good streak of homers, he has 26 on the season, and he could take the MLB lead in a few days.

Enjoy your hotdog and see you soon!